Former NATO commander calls McCarthy ouster ‘great day for Putin’

Retired Adm. James Stavridis, former NATO supreme allied commander for Europe, said the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy is a “great day” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that he hasn’t seen this level of disarray between Washington, D.C., and the rest of the world in his lifetime.

“I feel as though we’re … kind of disconnected here at home. We have extreme parties on both sides that don’t want to cooperate, don’t want to come to any sort of agreement,” Stavridis said.

Stavridis joined John Catsimatidis on his show “The Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM to weigh in on the debacle in the House after they ousted McCarthy in a historic vote last week. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) was made temporary speaker following the vote, but the House GOP is still split about who they would like to see as a permanent replacement.

“The debacle in the House of Representatives, throwing out a speaker for the first time in American history, it’s just a terrible thing,” Stavridis said.

He expressed concern over what message the ousting is sending to Putin ahead of an election year.

“A great day for Vladimir Putin when he watches the U.S. Congress rip itself apart and find itself unusable to have a speaker in place. What does Putin decide to do? He will double-down on trying to undermine U.S. elections,” Stavridis said.

He added that he thinks Putin will worsen and enhance the divisions between Democrats and Republicans both in the public and in Congress.

There are several urgent calls for members to reconvene in Washington, D.C., as the conflict between Israel and Palestine escalates.